164 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



their crops to market. It is, therefore, only for you to ascertain 

 what you can send to market from your respective localities, and 

 avail yourselves of the opi)ortunity. Tlie selling of milk which 

 has been so much discussed, is the one troublesome problem. I 

 have suggested over and over again to the milk producers, 

 that they should establish their own agents in tlie markets 

 where their milk is sent, l)ut they have not seen fit as yet to 

 adopt the suggestion. I do not kiiow that they can witli safety ; 

 I am not sure about it ; but I do think if we who are producing 

 milk could agree in our localities for a certain season of the 

 year what would be a ])rofitable price for ourselves, the con- 

 tractors would pay it. If they are selling milk in the markets 

 of Boston for eight cents a quart this year, and you are deliver- 

 ing it to them so that they can get a decent profit from it at that 

 rate, and next year you cannot afford to sell it to them for the 

 price at which you are now selling it, they will give you what- 

 ever price you agree among yourselves is fair and reasonable. 

 It only needs a combination among the farmers in a given 

 locality, and the placing of the matter in a proper light bcfote 

 the contractors themselves, to bring those men to terms at once. 

 That is my view of the matter. 



I have taken this occasion to sum up what has been said this 

 afternoon upon this subject, because the discussion has been really 

 an interesting and valuable one, and the question is one which 

 lies at the very foundation of the whole interest of agriculture. 



Mr. Lewis of Framingham. I want to say one word on this 

 subject of free markets. I think if this Board sliould suggest to 

 the city of Boston that the farmers of the State wanted some 

 proper place to market certain articles, they would consider it. 

 There are some stalls in Faneuil Hall Market that are worth 

 over three or four thousand dollars a year premium. The rent 

 itself is merely nominal in comparison, but it is not near low 

 enough. There are two or three bank presidents in that mar- 

 ket who do a very large business. Tiiey ought to have their 

 offices up stairs where the agricultural implement warehouse is, 

 and make room for small retailers below. The gentleman says 

 that hay passes through Essex County into Boston. I want to 

 say to you that very frequently the farmer goes from Framing- 

 ham, and from other places in this vicinity, into Boston with 

 hay, and he has to stand with his load out in the street in the 



